A boat trip with Loch Ryan Leisure

Today I have had an amazing experience, one of the best ever. It is certainly an experience very worthy of sharing and I have lots of photographs too!

As you know I love Dumfries and Galloway, especially the Rhins of Galloway. I love the rugged coastline and the miles and miles of sea and I love the acres of sky. This part of Scotland is so beautiful and so undiscovered. Today I saw Portpatrick and even Kirklauchline cottage from the sea.

I met my friend Jone in Portpatrick this morning and had pre- booked a rib ride with Steve from Loch Ryan Leisure for us both. It was a gorgeous bright day in Portpatrick and as Steve said “the weather gods are smiling”. Campbell’s fresh catch of the day was on the harbourside and I’m guessing fresh Portpatrick crab is firmly on the menu tonight!

Anyway, on go the life jackets and we climbed down the harbour steps and stepped across into “New Venture”, a very fine rib. Then away we went, slowly at first until we reached the open sea then we were off! It was amazing, what an adrenaline rush!

First we travelled north to Killantringan lighthouse, which looked very impressive from the sea perched high up on the rocks above us. Then we were off out to sea, looking for Basking Sharks as we went. We were cruising at 20 knots and reached speeds of 35 knots. We saw Guillemots, Gannets, Shags and Kittiwakes out at sea.

Heading north I suddenly saw Kirklauchline cottage perched on the cliffs and there was the sandy bay we often looked down upon from the cliff tops above.

Steve pointed out a Seal on the rocks which suddenly disappeared under the water as we approached but came back up a few times to have a good look at us. We cruised past Cairngarroch Bay, Morroch Bay and Knockinaam Lodge on the way back to Portpatrick. Another quick adrenalin rush at 35 knots before we arrived back into Portpatrick harbour and then Steve took us alongside the Portpatrick lifeboat for an impressive view from an angle I have never seen before.

Returning to the harbour and back on dry land with legs a little wobbly it was time to take off our life jackets and bid our goodbyes and a very big thank you to Steve. This wasn’t the end of our day in Portpatrick as Jone and I treated ourselves to fresh crab sandwiches whilst sitting in the sunshine outside the Crown. We even had a very naughty clotted cream scone with strawberry jam.

All in all an amazing experience in Portpatrick and one I will certainly be repeating again very soon especially during July and August when there’s a very strong chance of spotting Dolphins, Porpoises and Basking Sharks.

I would highly recommend a trip on the “New Venture” with Steve from Loch Ryan Leisure when visiting Portpatrick and it’s certainly on my list of top things to do whilst visiting the Rhins of Galloway in south west Scotland.

Here are a few more photographs from our boat trip with Loch Ryan Leisure: